Washing-machine



W. H. SARGENT. WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14, 1919. I

Patented Sept. 7, 192%,

WILLIAM H: SARGEN T, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO WAYNE MANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURIu I WASHING-MACHIN E.

Application filed April 14,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SARGENT, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Washing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to washing machines such as used in households for washing'clothes. The invention relates particularly to the type of washing machine in which the tub is suspended on hangers which swing to and fro during the washing movement.

The general object of the invention is to provide an improved construction for removably supporting the tub on the hangers or links, and also to provide means for insuring that the tub will not become dislodged from its cradle; also to provide for distributing the strains due to the swinging force, on the wall or bottomof the tub.

Further objects of the invention will ap\ pear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the general combination of parts and in the features hereinafter described, all of which contribute to produce an efficient washing machine.-

A preferred embodiment of my invention will be particularly described in the following specification, while the broad scope ofmy invention will be pointed out in the ap pended claims.

In the drawing, which illustrates the preferred embodimentof' my invention,

Figure 1 is a side elevation and partial section of a washing machine;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation partially broken away, further illustrating the washing machine;

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical section upon an enlarged scale illustrating means for controlling a clutch through which the swinging movement is imparted to the tub.

Referring to the parts, 1 represents a frame which maybe of any suitable construction, including legs 2 upon which 0ppo sitely dis osed elevated sidebars 3 are supported. he tub 4 is preferably of longitudinal box form, and is supported by'the side bars 3, so as to swing in a substantially vertical plane.

In order to support the tub from the side bars, and at the same time enable the swinging movement to be imparted to the tub, I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented septa. 7, 192a.

1919. Serial N0. 289,988.

provide a cradle 5 which may beof skeleton with upwardly v per ends of which are pivotally attached to;

pins 11 on the outer sides of the side bars 3.

In order to adjust the length of these links 10, I provide them with turn-buckles 12.

In order to insure that the tub t cannot become .accidentally displaced from the cradle, I provide the cradle with means for retaining the tub. This'means is preferably in the form of two straps 13, the ends of which are attached by suitable thumb screws 14- to the ends of the extensions 6, and these bands simplv extend up the end walls and lie on the upper face of the upper wall 15 of the tub; I provide the tub with side flanges 15 adjacent to which these bands lie. Any suitable means may be provided for oscillating, that is to say, swinging the tub. For this purpose, I provide an electric motor 16 supported on a longitudinal frame bar 17, and this motor drives a belt 18 which passes around a belt pulley 18 on a shaft 19.

Opposite and above the shaft 19 I provide a crank shaft 20 which is driven from the shaft 19 by means of a pinion 21 and gear 'wheel 22, the latter being rigid on the shaft 20. ()n the shaft 20 there is loosely mounted a clutch-member 23 which is connected to a crank or crank disk 24; these parts are suit- .ably supported in a bearing 25. On the shaft 20 there is also provided a sliding clutch-member 26 which, in Fig. 2, is shown in its open position. This sliding clutch member is splined to the shaft so that when it engages the clutch-member 23, the rota connecting rod to the more remote cross-bar of the cradle, as this decreases the amount of eccentricitv of the rod when rocking the tub.

In order to enable the clutch-collar 26 to be moved to openor close the clutch, I provide it with a yoke. 28 being formed at the lower end of a vertical spindle 28, which is rotatably mounted at its lower end ina bearing 29 in the form of a lug projecting in from the inner side of the cross-bar 30 of the frame, the upper end of said spindle having a bearing at 31 in the end cross-bar 32 of the frame. Theupper end of' the spindle is provided with a suitable handle or lever 33 for operating it.

As the crank shaft 20 is located in a horizontal plane, it is evident that the crank disk 24 rotates in a vertical plane extending parallel with the longitudinal axis of the tub 4, that is to say, the crank rotates in the plane in which the tub swings. -'From this arrangement it is evident that the dead centers of the crank correspond to the highest position of the cradle at the ends of its swinging movement, at which time the tub is radually coming to a stop through the action of gravity. For this reason the reversal of the swinging movement of the tub occurs without any shock to the mechanism and when the tub begins its downward swinging movement, its weight is assisting the force exerted by the connecting rod 27 This mode of operation is most advantageous because the tub tends to swing with and rest quietly in the cradle, without shifting about with-each reversal in the direction of movement.

I adapt the machine to employ a' wringer as an accessory to the washing machine. The wringer is indicated by the numeral 34 and may be supported on the upper portion of the frame, that is to say, on one ofthe side bars 3. The shaft 35 of one of the wringer rollers is extended toward the right, see Fig. 1, and providedwith a bevel gear 36, which bevel gear may be driven in either of two directions. In order to drive the bevel gear 36 in either direction I provide an upwardly extending wringer shaft 38,the lower end of which isdriven from the shaft 20 by means of suitable bevel gears 39, see Fig. 2; The upper end of the shaft'38 is provided with a loose bevel pinion 40 which meshes with'the lower ed e of the bevel gear 36, and beyond this pinion 40, a loose bevel pinion 41 is also provided on'the shaft, which meshes with the upper edge of the gear-wheel 36. The adjacent faces 42 and 43 of the bevel pinions are formed into clutch-members, and on the shaft between these clutch-member's, a clutch-collar 44 is see Fig. 3, said yoke I also supports the wringer-shaft 35.

short arm ofthis lever 45 carrles a down-- are engaged by the clutch face of the lower pinion 40.

In order to throw this clutch in or out, or hold it in a neutral position, I provide a controlling lever 45 which is pivotally supported at 46 on the frame 47, which frame The wardly extending link 48, the lower end of which is formed into a yoke49 to engage a groove in the clutch-collar 44 in a well known manner. Cooperating with the lever 45, I provide a quadrant 50 the face of which is provided with three depressions 51 which a projection 51 of the; lever 45. When the projection on the lever 45 is in engagement with the intermediate depression or recess 51, the clutchcollar 44 will be held in neutral position. In either of the other positions of the lever. the wringer will be driven in one direction or' the other.

The tub is provided with a suitable removable cover 53 giving access to its inte- IlOI.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a washing machine, the combination of a frame having elevated side bars, a tub. a'oradle on which said tub rests, links suspended-from said elevated side bars and attached at their lower ends to said cradle enabling said cradle to swing to and fro in a substantially vertical plane, turnbuckles in said links for adjusting the length there of, and means attached to said cradle for swin ing the same.

7 2. n a washing machine, the combination of a frame having elevated side bars. a cradle, links supporting said cradle from said side bars so as to swing to and fro in a substantially vertical plane, a tub supported on said cradle, said cradle having upwardly projecting rigid extensions at the ends thereof, engaging the ends of the tub and preventing the same from shifting longitudinally in the cradle, and detachable bands secured to said projecting extensions. and passing over the upper wall of said tub to hold the same on said cradle.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM. H. sanenxr.

on the side 

